Electric railway.



.ELECTRIG RAILWAY. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1. 1905.

2 sums-sum 1. 5

THE NORRIS rrrtns :0., WASHINGTON-,7 u. c

.PATENTBD JULY 31, 1906.

. No. 827,189. PATENTBD JULY 31, 1906.

ELECTRIC- RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. II 1905.

" 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE uoluus PETERS c WASHINGTON, D- c.

BARIHOLOMEW STACK ANDJAMES; E; B:'[I;R;NS,OF on oneo, ILLINOIS sl-sormoj AILWA county of, Oook andState OfT'llll'lOlS, have m;

; reinvention relates to improvementsin electric ra lways, of thetype. own as surthe electric current is furnished to themotorthe, present instance. is shown) for use in con:

' neotion with a ground or-street railway, yet it is also. applicable to elevated systems,"

and it consists in certain peculiarities of the con: struction, novel: arrangement, and, operation oft e various. partsv thereof, as Will behere v mafter morev fully, set forth and specifically claimed.

' The. principal object ofour invention, to.

provide an electric railway system of the a ove-named 'character which shall be. p rac. ticable, simple, and inexpensive inconstrucs. ti'on, durable and persons, anima s, or vehicles,- short-.circuiting, and. to. reduce to leakage. or Waste of current. I

1 other object is to provide means for conducting-the PQWGI'TC-UII'GIlb to a traveling motor which can beapplied to ordinary streehrailways or elevated roads already cone struotedwithout disturbin the track or road: ed and in such mannert at the parts shall .e readily accessible for inspection orrepair. Other objects and advantages Will be, disclosed in the subjoined description and explanation. y In order to, enable others skilled in the art to which our invention pertains to make and use. the same, we will now. proceed to describe it, referring. to the. accompanying drawings,

.to prevent amlnimum n which? 4.-1s aface view .of one thereof with the car removed. Fig. 3 is an the car togcoact with the-contact-studs. of-saidbrackets and a srec ca isebi t rsr fieet Application filed fiepte n ber, 1,

BURNS, citizens of, i the,

.arroWs. car. from, a, stationary source, of; supply, and, Whileitis more. especially designed: (and: an.

of. the. drawings.

: rails ofthe, track, which may on cross-ties, or in any wellm nn f jandz tion 15, wh form, and: material, but preferably in shape, as sh outwardly from the tal flange. 18, to Which 1 26, Whi

it will be. seen that ntsn adiul ,1 99,-

e sesam- 7 1 portion of the runner, showmg by dotted lines, the, positions the, parts may. the movement ofth car. Fig.

. 5 view of one. of, he supp r i g-br ck ts, an a f'portion of-therunner. jof one of the,

Fig, 6 1s a plan, view taken on l ne 8, 8v of- Fig.

- ookmg 1n the, directionfin catediby the Likefnumerals of reference, refer to CQITQ- spondingpartsthroughout. thediflerent vievsgs The reference-numerals 1-2 designateathe be supported havemountedthereon a motorecar13" of any. preferred or Wellkno Wn, type.

c arrow; and

. thereof, t ,ken, on.Ilin'e. 7 ofi.-Fig. 6. looking in ithe directionvv indicated-Lby th I Fig. sisa likeViGW face-contact.system s or that'class inwhioh. 6 1' 5 Located etween the, rails 12, at suitable distances apart andmounted onsufiports 14, area se r es of contact-studs and t eirholders, Each of theseholders consists of-a hollow base pore ich may. be of any elliptical own, and of iron. The bottom of-each of the bases l5 isclosed, Whileits up.- per end'is open to receive the, contact-stud, as Will be presently explained. Extending lowerportion of thebase 15, on each side thereof, is a flange 16, which 1s rovided with o enin s. 17 toreoeive bolts P. E a:

used for securing t e base to its support. The up er. portion ofieach of the bases 15 is provi ed with an outwar y-projecting. horizona similarly-shaped flange 19'on the. head or cover20 of the holder is securedby means of bolts 21 and nuts 22 thereon. As is. clearly shown in Ei s. 6 to. 8,

inclusive, of the drawings, the. hea or cover de. of any suitable. material, preferably 0 iron, is rounded-to- .ward its to and has a flatbottom, the flange 1910f Whic rests on and is. securedto the flan e 18, as before. stated. Each offthe hea s or covers 20 is provided with a cavity 23, in which is located insulating material 24,

the lower portion of which extends through an opening 25in the bottom of the cover or. hea is insulating material is rovtided in. its up. er portionvvith a '0]? is flarin at each clearly shown in igs. 2 and 6 of the draw,- ings. By reference to the last-named figures. the, rounded or upper'por:

8o suitable size,

longitu 'nalslot of its ends, asli IIO register with one means of tion of each of the covers 20 is cut awa as at 27, so as to provide outwardly-flare openings to correspond with the flared open ends of the slot 26. Vertically located in an opening in the central portion of the insulating material 24 of each of the heads 20 of the holders is a contact-stud 28, which is preferl ably made of copper and has on its upper end an extension 29, which lies longitudinally on the bottom of the slot 26, so as to extend from near one of its flared ends to the other. The inner or lower portion of each of the studs 28 is preferably flattened, as at 30, and is detachably located between two copper plates 31, which have their upper portions formed with an outward bend 32 to provide a clamp for the lower portion of the ocated on the outer surface of the plates 31 are pieces 33, of brass or other suitable material, which are held together by a bolt 34, which passes through openings in said pieces as Well as through openings in the plates 31, which plates are clamped by the pieces 33, as will be understood by reference t Fig. 7 of the drawin s, in which view it will be observed that 516 lower portion of each of the plates 31 is provided with outwardly-bent parts 35, which another and form recesses for the reception of the conductors 36, which are mainly insulated and passed through openings 37 in the ends of the bases 15 of t e holders; The base portions of the contactholders are united by means of tubes or pipes 38 which are screwed into the openings 37 or communicate with the cavities of the bases and carry the insulated conductors 36, which conductors are electrically connected to the plates 31 and through the same with the contact-stud 28 and extension 29 on the upper end thereof. Passing through an opening 39 in one side of one or more of the bases 15 is a conductor 40, which is insulated and has one of its ends electrically connected to the bolt 34, which secures the plates 31 and 33 together. This conductor leads from the main conductor 41 along which the electric current that is to form the propulsive force is transmitted from a dynamo or other source of electric energy.

Mounted on the bottom of the car 13, near each of its endsand usually secured to the cross-beams which is provided with a vertical dovetailed guideway 44 for the reception and operation of a movable block 45, which has in its sides recesses 46 to receive the inwardly-extending projections 47 on the face of the bracket. Each of the blocks 45 is provided with an opening in its upper portion to receive the extreme end portions of the runner 48, which end portions are preferably slightly reduced to form shoulders 49 to prevent them passing too far throu h said openings and are pivotally secured t erein. As is clearly shown in 'wardly inclined, as shown.

42 of the trucks, is a bracket 43,v

Fig. 1 of the drawings, the runner 48 is bent so that its main ortion will lie horizontally and longitudinal y under the middle portion of the car or in such a position as to pass through the slots 26 of the heads or covers of the contact-stud holders, that portion of the runner between the ends of portion and its extreme ends which fit in the openings of the movable blocks 45 being up- It will be understood that the distance between the contactstuds is less than the length of the horizontal portion of the runner 48, so that the engagement of the forward part of the runner with one of the contact-studs will take place before the rear portion of the runner has passed out of contact with the last contact-stud. The runner may be electrically connected to the motor (not shown) of the car in any suitable or well-known manner.

From the foregoing and by reference to the drawings it will be readily understood and clearly seen that in the operation of our railway system the bent-forward end of the runner will enter the slots 26 in the heads 20 of the contact-stud holders and pass through the same in the movement of the car, in which operation the runner will contact wit the longitudinal extensions 29 of the studs 28, the weight of the blocks 45 and runner being sufficient to hold the latter in close contact with said extensions as it passes over the same. By pivotally securing the ends of the runner in the movable blocks 45 it is ap parent that the runner will have a vertical as well as a lateral movement to compensate for any unevenness of the road-bed or contact-studs, and said movements will also permit the car to pass around curves. As the heads or covers of the contact-stud holders are rounded toward their upper ends and tightly close the bases 15, it is apparent that wagon or ve 'cle wheels striking the rounded portions will be slid off without injuring the holders and that the bases will be kept free from water or moisture, thereby preventing absorption or waste of the current in the holders. The contact-studs 28 being connected by the sectional conductors 36, which are insulated from the pipes 38, as before stated, it is apparent that only enough of the feed-conductors 40, which ead from the main conductor 41, may be used to supply the necessary current for propelling the car. In other words, the feed-conductors 40 need not lead to every one of the contact-studs, but to only a few of thesame, and for this reason all of the bases 15 need not be furnished with the openings 39 for said feedconductors.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an electric railway, the combination with a motor-car, of a bracket having a verthe horizontal conductors uniting tical guideway and mounted on the lower portion of the car near each of its ends, an apertured block 'Inovably located in said guideway, a runner having its end portions upturned and pivotally secured in the apertures of said block nally beneath the car, a series of contactstud holders located in the road-bed and having their upper portions longitudinally slotte to receive the runner, a contact-studiocated in the upper portion of each of said holders and insulated therefrom, insulated said studs, a main electric conductor and feed-conductors leading om said main conductor to some of the contact-studs, substantially as described.

2. In an electric railWa the combination With a motor-car, of a runner movably mounted on the car and beneath the same s and extending longitudi and extending longitudinally therewith, a.

series of contact-stud holders located in the road-bed at distances apart less than the or cover portion and insulation located,

ductor and feed-conductors leading from the 0 main conductor to some of said contact-studs, substantially as described.

BARTHOLOMEW M. STACK. JAMES F. BURNS.

Witnesses:

OHAs. O. TILLMAN. M. A. NYMAN. 

